Collect the Top Players of the 1900-1910
The stars of the first decade of the 1900s laid the foundation for baseball’s future, shaping the game with their dominance and larger-than-life presence. Their trading cards remain some of the most treasured collectibles in The Hobby, offering a tangible connection to an era that defined the sport’s early history.
As time passes, these artifacts continue to preserve the legacies of baseball’s first greats, ensuring that their impact is never forgotten. Here, we’ve broken them down by position, highlighting the greatest players from the first decade of the 1900s and the trading cards that capture their place in history.
Best Baseball Players & Their Cards: 1900-1910
Catcher: 1904 Allegheny Card Co. #12 Roger Bresnahan
Player info
• 1905 world series champion
• hall of famer
• served as both a player and manager
Set info
• 112-card set
what they said
• “Roger [Bresnahan] is a fighter; he was a fighter when a pupil of [John] McGraw’s and he has instilled this fighting spirit into his team.” – Sports Writer Fred Lieb
First Base: 1902 W600 Sporting Life Type 1 Frank Chance
Player info
• three-time world series champion
• hall of famer
set info
• 728-Card set
What they said
• “He was a great player – I think one of the best first basemen ever in the game – but in addition he was a great leader because he asked no man to take any chance that he would not take himself and because he had the power to instill enthusiasm even in a losing cause.” – hall of fame manager john mcgraw
Second Base: 1902 Sporting Life Cabinet Cards #337 Napoléon Lajoie
Player info
• hall of famer
• five-time al batting champion
• 1901 triple crown winner
set info
• 728-Card set
What they said
• “Lajoie was one of the most rugged players I ever faced.” – cy young
Shortstop: 1909-1911 T206 American Tobacco Company Honus Wagner
Player info
• One of the five original Baseball hall of Fame inductees
• 1909 World Series Champion
Card/Set info
• 524-Card Set
• One of the rarest and most valuable Baseball cards of all time, sold for $7.25 million in 2022
What they said
• “He is not only a marvelous mechanical player, but he has the quickest baseball brain I have ever observed.” – john mcgraw
Third Base: 1899-00 M101-1 Sporting News Jimmy Collins
Player info
• hall of famer
• 1903 world series champion
• boston red sox hall of famer
set info
• 62-Card set
what they said
• “Collins was a model for all third basemen, the king of trappers and footworkers.” – baseball writer tim murnane
Left Fielder: 1899-00 M101-1 Sporting News Fred Clarke
Player info
• hall of famer
• 1909 world series champion
• pittsburgh pirates hall of famer
Set info
• 62-Card Set
what they said
• “As a player, Clarke’s name will go down in history as one of the greatest in the game. In his prime, he was a remarkable batsman.” – sports writer William Slocum.
Center Fielder: 1909-1911 T206 Ty Cobb Red Portrait
Player info
• One of the five original Baseball hall of Fame inductees
• 1911 al mvp
• 12-time al batting champion
set info
• 524-Card set
What they said
• “I never saw anyone like Ty Cobb. No one even close to him. He was the greatest all time ballplayer. That guy was superhuman, amazing.” – Casey Stengel
Right Fielder: 1906 Fan Craze A.L. Sam Crawford
Player info
• hall of Famer
• Two-Time Homerun leader
• Three-Time AL RBI leader
set info
• 51-Card set
What they said
• “None of them can hit quite as hard as Crawford. He stands up at the plate like a brick house and he hits all the pitchers, without playing favorites.” – Fielder Jones
Starting Pitcher: 1909-11 T206 Christy Mathewson Portrait
Player info
• One of the five original Baseball hall of Fame inductees
• two-time world series champion
• two-time triple crown winner
set info
• 524-Card Set
What they said
• “Mathewson was the greatest pitcher who ever lived. He had knowledge, judgment, perfect control and form. It was wonderful to watch him pitch when he wasn’t pitching against you.” – Connie Mack
